WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Down 7.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares fell 7.6% to $6.946 on Wednesday with volume down ~79% (883,299 shares) despite the company beating quarterly estimates — EPS ($0.13) vs. consensus ($0.34) and revenue $38.25M vs. $8.45M expected.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with 14 Buy ratings and a consensus target of $28.44 (several firms raised targets, e.g., Cantor Fitzgerald to $41 and Wedbush to $35), although a few dealers have downgraded the stock.
• Insiders have been selling recently (including the CEO and CFO) while institutional ownership is very high at 89.73%, with large positions added by firms like GSK, Adage and Price T. Rowe.

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) shares dropped 7.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $6.94 and last traded at $6.9460. Approximately 883,299 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 4,273,255 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WVE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wedbush lifted their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen cut WAVE Life Sciences from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $34.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WAVE Life Sciences currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.44.

WAVE Life Sciences Trading Down 6.4%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -5.76 and a beta of -1.32.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $38.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.45 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 85.69% and a negative net margin of 478.35%. On average, equities research analysts predict that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 3,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total transaction of $48,258.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,807,478.25. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 10,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $140,956.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,520 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,705,744. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 52,373 shares of company stock valued at $757,527 in the last quarter. 23.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GSK plc acquired a new position in WAVE Life Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $310,177,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 15,016,500 shares of the company's stock worth $97,607,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500,000 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,407,372 shares of the company's stock worth $125,927,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362,880 shares during the period. Darwin Global Management Ltd. acquired a new position in WAVE Life Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $125,168,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,744,520 shares of the company's stock worth $80,657,000 after purchasing an additional 993,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the company's stock.

About WAVE Life Sciences

WAVE Life Sciences is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company focused on the discovery and development of stereopure oligonucleotide therapies designed to address serious diseases with high unmet medical need. Leveraging proprietary chemistry and precision synthesis, WAVE engineers drug candidates with defined stereochemistry to optimize potency, safety and manufacturability. This approach aims to enhance target specificity and improve therapeutic profiles compared with traditional oligonucleotide medicines.

The company's pipeline includes programs in neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and neurodegenerative conditions including Huntington's disease, as well as early-stage cardiovascular and liver indications.

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